Dancing Crab Is Finger Licking Yummy!

Not sure what's with the seafood binging when it comes to celebrating my parents' birthdays but mum decided to treat Dad to a crab dinner at Dancing Crab. I had previously mentioned this place to them before and how I've read good reviews online so my mum has been ever curious.

The decor of the place is very eclectic modern with a mish-mash of wharf related items but yet the furniture is irregular. I recognise a lot of them as furniture from its predecessor, MAD. Anyway, the whole concept of this restaurant is that you eat EVERYTHING with your hands. Utensils are not provided, with exception to noodles and cakes (S$6++ per slice).

Don't you just love their aprons?

Mum's green tea latte (S$4.50++) comes with a little heart. Awww...

For starters, we ordered the Truffle Fries (S$7++) and Fried Okra (S$8++).

These truffle fries are one of the best I've eaten so far although it's still a second to the ones at Alley Bar. The fries were a nice thickness and the shoe string types vs the thick cut types will both enjoy these. However, if you compare dollar to dollar, this basket of fries wins everyone!!

I liked the fried okra although those who do not like slimy vegs will still stare at this basket with pure disdain. I was hoping that it would be as crispy as how the Chindians do it but it was not to be. Nonetheless, the batter was crispy and the inside was nice and moist. The sauce was a mildy spicy cheesy mix which I felt tasted better when I added hot sauce. Mum begs to differ.

Mum ordered the combo bag for us with 1 dungeness crab (seasonal price) upon advice of the waiter because the smaller combo bag was only suitable for 2 pax. I looked around and it seemed as if everyone else ordered their seafood to be cooked in the Dancing Crab Signature Spicy Sauce. But for our cooking sauce, we chose the Beurre Blanc, which is a white wine cream sauce. Combo bag alone came up to be about S$214++ as our crab weighed 1.4kg.

Tada...they were not kidding when they called it a combo bag. It comes to you in a bag where the waiter will pour it out onto the table. However, sensing how my parents would react to it, the waiter asked whether we'd like it to be in a bowl instead. Which we did.

What did our bag contain?

1 large crab

300g prawns

4 pieces of corn on the cob

clams

potatoes

3 pieces of chorizo sausages

carrots

The sauce was divine! I could taste the wine which went nicely into the velvety creamy sauce. I was wondering what gave it that extra oomph and then I spied my little eye on the sausages. The clams were super juicy and were not over cooked while the prawns were fresh and succulent, which amazed me because all the different types of seafoods had different cooking times.

The crab. Mmm...yummeh! It tastes slightly different from the Sri Lankan Mud Crabs that most restaurants in Singapore serve. It is a little firmer and cleaner tasting, reminding me a lot more like its Japanese cousins in Hokkaido. The shell around the legs were a bit soft and therefore, a lot easier to crack and peel off. The pincers are a lot smaller than the Sri Lankan ones so they're a bit meh.

It doesn't look like a lot from the photo above but trust me when I say that we were quite full. I guess it helped that we had fries and okra.

It was a lot of messy fun eating with our hands. The aprons are super important! Even with the apron, I still managed to get a bit of spotting onto my blouse. They may want to consider goggles too as the seafood was so juicy that it splattered on all of our faces! Dancing Crab should take a leaf off from Jumbo and provide wet wipes because the sauce was really drippy and the little dry ones that were given were not enough. There was only 1 sink area so there was a long queue to wash our hands...hence, those wet wipes would come in really handy.

Anyway, when my dad walked off to get water, I told the waiter that it was my dad's birthday so they prepared a slice of cheesecake (S$6++) and placed it on top of a tray full of shells and even dry ice!

The funny thing is that they'll pause their regular music to play their own birthday song while 1 waiter brings the cake over. My mum and I couldn't exactly sing along because the tune wasn't the normal one. Nice try....but..ahem. Back to the cake. I love the chocolate powder crab! It's so cute!! Added a nice touch to the whole cheesecake :D

Overall...I love the quality of the food! The experience was really fun too as it's super casual and it feels like we're playing with our food. Must try at least once!